Harriers host Pagosa Springs Classic

Staff Writer

SUN photo/Randi PierceOlivia Reinhardt nears the finish line at last Saturday’s Pagosa Springs Classic cross country meet. Reinhardt finished first at the meet with a time of 21 minutes 42 seconds. The girls’ team finished second at the meet.

It was a successful Pagosa Springs Classic for the Pirate cross country team, with both the boys and the girls taking home second at the meet.

Both teams finished behind 4A Durango High School’s JV team in the eight-team meet.

The races began in Town Park, and much of the course traversed Reservoir Hill under sunny skies.

“It was a gorgeous day to run,” coach Scott Anderson said.

The boys fielded 12 runners on the day, but were short one runner who was taking the ACT test.

Leading the boys for the Pirates was Nick Hutcherson, who finished fourth in 18:44 upon his return to varsity action.

Following close behind was Tyler Greenly in fifth, with a time of 18:50.

“Nick … coming back to varsity, was able to pace himself with Tyler, and both of them took significant chunks of time off from the week before,” Anderson said. “They’re doing great.”

Liam O’Brien finished third for the Pirates, placing 16th with a time of 20:15.

Rounding out the scored finishers for Pagosa (the top four finishers on each team contribute to the team score) was Chris Archuleta, who came in one second behind O’Brien to take 17th place.

Ethan Brown finished 19th overall, with a time of 20:23, and Ben Miller finished in 20:34 to take 20th place.

Mason Chronowski, whom Anderson said is facing an injury that could potentially keep him out of action, finished 21st, in 20:46.

Next was Jacob Hughes, finishing 25th in 21:05, with Anderson calling him, “a nice viewing of the future.”

Zakk Brown, Anderson said, showed the most improvement over the previous meet, finishing 28th in 21:11.

Only eight seconds later came Michael Iverson in 29th, finishing with a time of 21:19.

Rounding out the Pirate harriers, Coy Thomas finished 40th in 24:53, followed by Ian Roth in 41st with a time of 25:09.

For the girls, sophomore Olivia Reinhardt came in first with a time of 21:42.

Anderson said, going into this weekend, he knew Reinhardt had the potential to contend, adding, “the results speak for themselves. She did an awesome job.”

Reinhardt, Anderson said, was steady throughout the race and, for the second half, had outpaced her closest challenger.

“She ran about the perfect race,” Anderson said.

Maddie Greenly followed in fifth place with a time of 22:57, and was closely followed by Taylor Lee-Hammer in sixth, at 22:59.

“For a freshman, and being a young freshman, she ran a smart race,” Anderson said of Greenly. “She’s starting to see what some of her capabilities really are.”

Missing from the meet, though, were the two Pirate seniors — Emily Bryant and Dana Danielson.

Bryant took the race off in order to give her a mental break (of sorts), also giving her the chance to take the ACT test, Anderson said. “For a number of reasons, we felt it was good for Emily not to run.”

Danielson was held back from the meet following the re-aggravation of a long-term injury the previous week.

Both girls are expected to return to action this weekend, when the team heads for the Chicken Creek Classic in Mancos.

And just as hunting season continues, the Pirates are continuing their hunt, hoping to again have Bayfield in their sights.

“We’ll see if the improvement from week to week gets us within archery range of Bayfield, as opposed to rifle range,” Anderson said.